October 16, 2013 1:16pm EDTOctober 16, 2013 12:08pm EDTThe Magic can't escape Dwight Howard, or the mess he left for them to dig out. Orlando did land a solid haul of young talent. This year will be judged by how that talent develops, SN's Sean Deveney writes in our season preview.

Where they’re heading

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It will be back to the lottery for Orlando this year, and almost certainly near the top of what is expected to be an outstanding and deep draft. But when the Magic get there, they will do so with a more defined group of young players, led by rookie guard Victor Oladipo, the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, bolstered by promising talents like center Nikola Vucevic and forwards Andrew Nicholson, Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless. The Magic do have three noteworthy veterans—Glen Davis, Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson—but this season will be measured in terms of developing the team’s raw talent into useful players, then seeing how the lottery shakes out. A lot of that responsibility will fall to coach Jacque Vaughn, and it was difficult to judge how much progress was made last year.

Where they’ve been

The Magic are celebrating their 25th year in Orlando, and now is as good as any time to look back, mostly because this season figures to be rocky. The Magic are still digging out of the mess that was left by the departure of Dwight Howard two years ago, which left them with what is, in retrospect, a decent haul—Harkless, Afflalo, Vucevic and a 2014 first-rounder from Denver. But yet, Howard is part of a pattern in Orlando that is both encouraging and disappointing. The Magic have had the ability to draft and sign great players, including Howard, Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady, but in every instance, things have come to a bitter end. If Oladipo becomes a star, and/or if the Magic land Andrew Wiggins or another top-flight player in this year’s draft, you can’t blame Magic fans for getting a little nervous about their prospective departure.

Introducing … Tobias Harris

It was somewhat of a surprise that when the Bucks came seeking a trade for J.J. Redick last year, they were willing to offer up Tobias Harris as part of the package. Despite some quality early production, Harris was never able to break out of Scott Skiles’ doghouse in Milwaukee, and it wasn’t until he got to Orlando that he flourished, averaging 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 27 games with the Magic. Harris still needs work, particularly at the defensive end (more specifically in pick-and-roll defense), and at 6-8 he is no doubt a tweener. But he is strong at the rim and has the kind of midrange efficiency—he shot 52.2 percent from 16 feet out to the 3-point line last year—that is rarely seen in a player with only two NBA seasons under his belt. The Magic will still be shooting for a big-time star in next year’s draft, but Harris figures to be at least a secondary option going forward.

Numbers game

30. Before the 2013 draft, there were indications that if Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart had been available, the Magic would have taken him, even at No. 1. There is good reason for that. According to Synergy Sports, Orlando was among the worst in the league in two key point guard-related categories—they were 30th in efficiency in transition last season (1.012 points per possession) and 27th in pick-and-roll ballhandler situations (0.734 points per possession). Some of that can be attributed to the injury-plagued year that Jameer Nelson had, but Nelson is not much of a transition player himself, though he works well in the pick-and-roll. The Magic will experiment with Oladipo at the point, but he is a natural shooting guard. If Nelson again struggles to stay healthy, the lack of a quality point guard could hurt the development of Orlando’s young big men.